Final Bankojanakari 20-1.pmd


Banko Janakari, Vol. 20, No. 1

51

New addition of  Barleria prionites L. (Acanthaceae) to the
flora of  Nepal

G.D. Bhatt1, P.P. Kurmi2 and S.R. Baral1

Short note

While carrying out identification of  Barleria L.
(family Acanthaceae) collected from various

places of  Nepal and preserved in National Herbarium
and Plant Laboratories, Department of  Plant
Resources, Godawari, Lalitpur, Nepal (KATH), we
came across some specimens belonging to one
interesting species. During the identification, this
species did not match with any species of  Barleria
already reported from Nepal (Hara and Shakya, 1982;
Press et al., 2000; Bista et al., 2001). It has been
identified as Barleria prionites L. which is new addition
to the flora of  Nepal. This species was collected from
Nepalganj, Banke district, West Nepal at 181m.

Description of the species
Barleria prionites L., Sp. Pl. 636 (1753).
Under shrub to 1.5m, bearing prominent, greyish, 3-
forked, interpetiolar spines. Stem much branched.
Leaves elliptic-obovate, 3.5-13.5 x 1- 5.1cm, acute,
base attenuate, rugulose, glabrous above and beneath;
petiole 0-1.8cm. Flowers solitary in axils of  upper
leaves, becoming denser upwards and forming short
terminal spikes. Bracts oblong-ovate, 10-25mm, acute,
spine tipped; bracteoles linear, 7-14mm spinescent.
Outer calyx lobes ovate, 12-15mm, spine tripped,
glabrous; inner calyx lobes ovate- lanceolate, 10-
13mm, spine- tipped. Corolla orange yellow, 1.5-
3.9cm, pubescent, 2- lipped, upper lip formed of  4
equal elliptic lobes 1-1.5cm, lower lip formed of  1
lobe 1.8-2.4cm; tube 1-1.5cm, slightly widened only.
Stamens 2, filaments, 2-2.5cm. Stigma entire, cylindric,
open, pitted.

Distribution: Nepal, India, Bhutan, Sri-Lanka, SE Asia,
Tropical Africa.
Ecology: Occurs in Forest area.
Flowering: November.
Local Name: Kalabansa / kalpanath -sfnfjG;f  / sNkgfy_
Specimens examined:West Nepal: Nepalganj, Banke
District, 181m, 1972.11.18, N. P. Manandhar 9472.

Uses: The plant has medicinal value. Its leaf  and
root is used against neurological disorders such as
paraplegia, sciatica, etc. Leaf  juice is applied to purify
blood and semen. It also helps heal ulcers, glandular
swellings and skin diseases (Sivaranjan and
Balachandran, 1999).

1 National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories, Department of  Plant Resources, Godawari, Lalitpur, Nepal.
Email:gdb742gdb@gmail.com

2 Free lance Botanist Baraipur-5, Kapilvastu District, Nepal.



Banko Janakari, Vol. 20, No. 1

52

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. Krishna Chandra Paudel,
Director General, DPR for his encouragement and
facilities and Dr. Keshab R. Rajbhandari, Senior
Taxonomist, for his guidance and valuable
suggestions.

References
Bista, M.S., Adhikari, M.K. and Rajbhandari, K.R.
(eds.) 2001. Flowering Plants of  Nepal
(Phanerogams). Department of  Plant Resources,
Kathmandu, Nepal.

Hara, H. and Shakya, P.R. 1982. Acanthaceae. In An
Enumeration of  the Flowering Plants of  Nepal Volume III
(eds.) Hara, H., Chater, A.O. and Williams, L.H.J.,
British Museum (Natural History), London, U.K.
138-139.

Press, J.R., Shrestha, K.K. and Sutton, D.A. 2000.
Annotated Checklist of  the Flowering Plants of
Nepal. Natural History Museum, London, U.K.

Sivaranjan, V.V. and Balachandran, I. 1999.
Ayurvedic Drugs and their Plant Sources. Oxford
and IBH Publishing Co. Ltd. New Delhi. 570p.

Bhatt et al.